“I felt using the infinity symbol was the best way to represent the car of the future," Bruce Breslow, the director of the Nevada DMV, said in a statement. "The unique red plate will be easily recognized by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles."

Breslow said that Google's petition was approved only after a special DMV delegation – apparently dubbed, in a nice Orwellian twist, the Autonomous Review Committee – thoroughly reviewed the company's "safety plans, employee training, system functions and accident reporting mechanisms." And each car bristles with a range of sensors and computer equipment, which can sense obstacles such as other cars, bicycles, and guardrails.

Furthermore, as Sky News notes, the cars are not really driverless. At least two Google employees will be required to sit in each vehicle. Those employees have the ability to override the computer controls.